Possible free therapy??

[Farm Boy]

Do any of you have any experience with military therapists?  My dad is in the military (we live on a military base) and I heard that dependents can get free counseling.  I wasn't sure if this meant that I could go to a military counselor for free, or if the army would fund my counseling elsewhere. 

I found a gender therapist nearby (off post), so I would obviously prefer to go there than to a generic military counselor with no trans experience.  Also, I'm a legal adult so is there any way I could get counseling without my parents knowing?  I know outside of the military I could, but with the army pretty much everything you do has to go through your sponsor (my dad).  I'm not even sure if I can call the counseling office without giving them his info. 

Non-military related:
My other option would be to tell my mom that I want counseling to help with my social anxiety (this wouldn't be a lie; real life interaction with people is torture for me) and then see if I could get the military therapist to transfer me to the gender therapist.  I don't think my mom would be receptive to the idea though.  Whenever I've expressed my fears she's basically told me it's ridiculous and I need to get over myself. 

[kyril]

If you're still covered under TRICARE, then it probably covers counseling off-base, but it may not cover the specific therapist you want to see. You'd have to call and check.

As far as on-base, yes, you have to give your sponsor's info, but that doesn't mean the information is going to get back to him. In fact, you probably have a better expectation of privacy with on-base counseling because there may not be any insurance statement for your dad to read later (that is, unless on-base care for family members goes through TRICARE now too - never had any civilian dependents, so I wouldn't know.)

In general, though, if you want absolute confidentiality you have to pay for it yourself in cash.

[Farm Boy]

Yes, I believe I'm covered.  Call the therapist or TRICARE to check? 

That's true, I hadn't thought of that.  So do you think it would be better to use a generic military counselor or try to get transferred to the gender one?  I'm kind of afraid to go to the gender therapist though, because a quick google search of her name reveals her specialty, and I'm not out to my family...

Yeah, I just can't afford therapy myself at the moment, and I jumped when I heard I could get it free.  I'd rather do it sooner than later.

[Diane Elizabeth]

Tricare can cover you as long as you are in school and a dependent.  The military counselors are not trained in GID.  I have been told, by the VA, that Tricare will not cover me for GID.  I am military retired.  However, a TG in California that I talked to said she got help at the VA.